


mirrored lives

by bogliasco



Series: if the mcu wasn't a coward we would've had this [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-30 23:56:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15762360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bogliasco/pseuds/bogliasco
Summary: They have a lot in common- traumatic histories, sarcastic masks, "sidekicks" who would kick their asses for calling them sidekicks.





	mirrored lives

Strange looked like he was having the time of his life.

 

“Look a little less happy about it, would you?” Tony grumbled. He had come to the Sanctum for his first magic study, and it had gone peachy- fireballs absorbed, energy daggers deflected- until the teleportation. The suit’s helmet hadn’t been reinforced with a modified arc reactor, leading to his current situation: looking like an idiot in his undersuit and helmet in some musty room of the Sanctum, the rest of his suit in the parlor. The sensors were still operational and sending data to the HUD, namely, video of Strange smirking at his first triumph over Tony’s tech. It was like, 11-1. That was no reason to celebrate.

 

Tony stumbled slightly as he appeared again the parlor, though not inside his suit. Judging by Strange’s pout, the score was now 12-1. Loser. “I think we’re good for today,” Tony said, folding up the helmet and reattaching it to the suit.

 

“Done when we say you are, hm? Seems like an unequal relationship here. Makes me feel very uncomfortable and taken advantage of,” Strange quipped. Tony grinned at him, though he did feel a twinge of guilt. Strange didn’t seem the type of person to trust easily, and he knew he was riding a thin line between being considered a nuisance and a threat. Still, he had to get as far as he could with his tests here. Even after the mess that was Ultron, Tony knew the truth. Things were coming, and magic prevention was just another way to prepare.

 

“Well, name your price, and I’ll say yes if it’s convenient for me,” Tony replied. Strange had conjured two armchairs and a table covered in an assortment of drinks. Tony reached for the water, pretending not to notice the whiskey and the, well, he wasn’t sure what the swirling black drink was. Strange eyed his choice curiously, before waving his hand again and vanishing the other choices. 

 

“I propose a mutually beneficial arrangement,” Strange said. Tony valiantly ignored the possible connotations of that statement, though he didn’t fail to acknowledge the way Strange’s robes fit him. He was professional, not blind. “It seems as though your tech has temporarily nullified some of my spells. 12-1, I believe?” Tony laughed out loud at that. It seems they had been keeping score, and the same way at that. “I propose that for each advance you make, I have the chance to best it with magic. We may find both of our skills and defenses improving exponentially. It seems we have a competitive spirit in common, and ego is a much more vicious motivator.”

 

Tony mulled it over. Although he had come to Strange to get rid of the possibility of magic besting his tech, it seemed relatively unlikely that Strange was allied with any of the space horrors Tony knew was coming. Besides, Strange was right- competition would push them to new heights, and help Tony expand his defense repertoire. “Fine, doc, I’ll allow that. Just don’t blame me when we start losing track of my lead.” Strange grinned and toasted him sarcastically. They both drank the water, and Tony watched in fascination as the glass refilled itself in a little whirlpool.

 

“May I ask a question, Stark?” Strange sounded strangely hesitant, for someone who was usually so dry and brash.

 

“Ask away, though I do reserve the right to throw an emotionally repressed temper tantrum and storm out.”

 

“Very honest. I was wondering why you don’t drink anymore? I’ve seen you finish champagne at those Foundation fundraisers like it was nothing. What changed?” He looked genuinely curious, so Tony managed to fight back his instinctively cutting response.

 

“Wow, no punches pulled, doc. I respect that.” Tony paused. “Wait- you went to the Foundation fundraisers? How the hell did you get on the guest list?” It had been ages since Tony had been to one of the galas- after Sokovia, he had focused all of his energy on the September Grant, and let Pepper bully various big names into attending the galas as incentive for the other donors instead of forcing him to attend.

 

“Didn’t google my accreditation after all,” Strange said, faux-disappointed. “I was once a very wealthy, very sought-after neurosurgeon. Top of the donor pool, but rarely at the top of the donor list.”

 

“Used to be? How exactly did you go from neurosurgeon to Dungeons and Dragons?”

 

A pause. “No punches pulled either, I see,” Strange said quietly. Tony made an apologetic noise. Strange shook it off. “Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.” Any other time, Tony would’ve leered and made a joke. Now, with the strange somber atmosphere in the room, he decided to take initiative and not be the asshole for once.

 

“My family has a bad history with alcoholism,” Tony said into the silence, not making eye contact. He stared into the water instead. “I didn’t care before Afghanistan, and after, I swore I was going to be a normal person. Just a drink for special occasions, or those really bad nightmares. It was actually going okay. Thought I would trip up after New York but the Aven- well. I managed it. Then, in the last year, everything went to shit at the same time. Hydra. Ultron. A protege of mine getting hurt. When I was spending all my time in the lab staring at a glass instead of doing something about those things, I knew it was time to stop. Cold turkey isn’t very fun but it’s better than knowing you could’ve done more.”

 

Tony looked up slowly, not wanting to see the judgment most people gave him. After all, he was a rich superhero, making more messes than he cleaned up. Who cared if he watched Lagavulin swirl down the drain and feared the sleepless night ahead? He wasn’t sure why Strange’s opinion mattered so much. Or maybe his opinion would just be the last straw on the camel’s back.

 

There was no judgment in Strange’s eyes. He looked sad and understanding. Maybe too much so. Drinking was just a symptom of the other shit that was going down in Tony’s life, and that darkness in the eyes was like looking in a mirror.

 

“Thank you for telling me,” Strange said slowly. “I struggled with the same thing during my transition to Dungeons and Dragons, as you put it. I was in a car crash that destroyed my hands.” He shuddered, as if reliving ancient pain. “The worst part was, back then, I thought that was the limit of human suffering. Watching the dashboard fold in and my bones shattering like glass. Some days I couldn’t even drink when the tremors got too bad, and those nights I went to sleep thinking it couldn’t get worse.”

 

“But it did.”

 

“Stark, believe me when I say you’ve only scraped the top layer of magic and the horrors it can unleash. Imagine the ways the spells I’ve shown you can be misused. Instead of making wind, I could suck the air right out of your lungs. Instead of throwing fireballs, I could channel a forest fire. Instead of predicting your gauntlet attacks, I could trap you in a time loop and kill you over and over again, varying it each time, making sure you remember exactly how you died every time, and never giving you rest. You would die choking on your own bloody entrails and know you would wake up again and I would be waiting.”

 

Tony watched Strange grow more agitated as he went along, and, impulsively, reached out and pressed his shaking hands still. “I can imagine that,” Tony said slowly. “But you don’t have to, do you?” Strange’s eyes were bright with fear when he shook his head. They sat in silence for a long time.


End file.
